Joanna Lumley Movies

Saffron (Julia Sawalha) cautions her mother to economize in gentle preparation for the revelation by Edina's accountant that she's been cut off by both of her ex-husbands; as revealed in series one's Absolutely Fabulous: Birthday, Edina's been double-dipping, and Justin and Marshall aren't having it. Unaware that she's actually got plenty of investments to support herself and refusing to sell either one of her sham businesses -- the joke PR firm or the tax-shelter knick-knack shop -- Edina (Jennifer Saunders) opts instead for reducing her monthly expenses. Deprived of her daily deliveries from tony department store Harrods, she and Patsy (Joanna Lumley) attempt to mount a trip to the grocery store in the "economy" car that's replaced the limo -- a two-seat sports car. The results of this expedition include assault, battery, robbery, pubic drunkenness, traffic violations, a trip to court, and a course of public service. Originally broadcast on BBC 1 on March 3, 1994, Absolutely Fabulous: Poor marked series two, episode five of this popular Brit-com. Christopher Malcolm reprises his role as Eddy's gay ex-husband, Justin, in an appearance that includes a memorable joke about "going through the motions" of marriage. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi

During a drug binge, Edina (Jennifer Saunders) commiserates with Patsy (Joanna Lumley) about her lack of fame. Soon, though, notoriety comes knocking in the form of Saffy's debut as a playwright: "Self-Raising Flower," an autobiographical drama about the girl's troubled relationship with her mother. Eddy argues savagely with Saffy (Julia Sawalha), who recalls, in flashback, her neglected childhood. Back at rehearsals, Saffy's lead actress seems to have a bit of a crush on her writer/director. Meanwhile, members of the family begin arriving, including Bo (Mo Gaffney) and Marshall (Christopher Ryan), who have converted to Judaism in order to become kabbalah-studying Hollywood insiders. Eddy tries to launch a PR campaign against Saffy's play, but the offensive fails to get off the ground because opening night is nigh. Soon, the budding auteur is off to the theater with Gran (June Whitfield), Bubble (Jane Horrocks), Sarah (Naoko Mori), Bo, Marshall, and Justin (Christopher Malcolm). Edina and Patsy, of course, can't stay away, but they're shocked at the accuracy of Saffy's portrayal of their lives. Originally broadcast on BBC 1 on September 28, 2001, Absolutely Fabulous: Small Opening marked series four, episode five of this popular Britcom. The scenes -- and even the costumes -- in "Self-Raising Flower" are all lifted more or less directly from earlier episodes of "AbFab." Gaffney, Malcolm, and Ryan all make their Absolutely Fabulous series four bows with this episode. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi

Life continues apace for Edina (Jennifer Saunders), Patsy (Joanna Lumley), and Saffron (Julia Sawalha). Eddy has adopted a dolphin as both house pet and PR client; Pats has moved out of Odd Bins to make room for a new liquor aisle; and Saffy has finally found a boyfriend -- the wealthy, condescending Paolo Carlo (Tom Hollander). Mother (June Whitfield), meanwhile, has taken up with a cadre of in-your-face, elderly "snowbirds," while Bubble (Jane Horrocks) is out of the picture, busy with her new job at French Vogue. Pats and Eddy decide to vacation in Val d'sere, which, as with their earlier vacations in Absolutely Fabulous: France and Absolutely Fabulous: Morocco, turns out to be less welcoming than they'd hoped. While Pats takes up with a hunky ski instructor, Eddy has a near-death experience out on the slopes in which God appears to her in the form of Marianne Faithfull. Convinced she has been spared for some larger purpose, Eddy returns home to find that her mother's new friends have taken up residence in their camper van in the front drive. A more pressing concern arrives in the form of Saffy's engagement to Paolo; a meeting between the Monsoon clan and the mega-rich Carlo family goes poorly at first, but when Patsy realizes that Paolo's mother, Kalishia (Carmen Du Sautoy), is actually a former B-movie bimbo, the fearful society matron finds herself de-fanged. Soon life is a blur of wedding preparations, from fittings at Christian Lacroix's designer boutique to involuntary depilatory sessions forced on the hapless bride-to-be. The action climaxes at the ceremony itself, where the guests include a who's who of previous "AbFab" guest stars. Absolutely Fabulous: The Last Shout was originally broadcast as a two-part TV movie on BBC 1 in 1996, a year after the end of the third "AbFab" series. It would be the last installment until series four began in 2001. Former Shakespear's Sister member Marcella Detroit appears as God's angelic sidekick; the singer also contributed several songs to the soundtrack, including a new rendition of the show's unmistakable theme music, "This Wheel's on Fire." Nickey Clarke, Suzy Menkes, Bruce Oldfield, Christopher Biggins, and Lacroix appear as themselves. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi

Stella Gibbons' popular novel was published in 1932, and it has been adapted twice for British television, first as a miniseries in 1971, then by director John Schlesinger in 1995. That version proved so popular that it was released to theaters in the U.S. The heroine of Gibbons' story, Flora Poste (Kate Beckinsale), is an aspiring young writer with two needs: material for her first novel, and a cheap place to live and work. A wealthy friend encourages her to take advantage of her country cousins and impose upon them for lodgings. Flora finds Cold Comfort Farm to be a ramshackle affair populated by eccentrics including the imperious Ada Doom (Sheila Burrell), her daughter Judith (Eileen Atkins), Judith's rough but handsome son Seth (Rufus Sewell), and Amos (Ian McKellen), an amateur preacher whose sermonizing seems to release some kind of demons within him. Undaunted by this menagerie, Flora gets to work organizing the household, and she comes to realize that the material for her book is right in front of her. ~ Tom Wiener, Rovi

The final installment in Hammer Studios' Dracula series is also the least interesting of the lot. A fairly direct follow-up to Dracula A.D. 1972, this sequel finds the Count (Christopher Lee) developing a potent strain of bubonic plague which he and his devil-worshipping disciples plan to release from 1970's London to wipe out nearly all life on earth. His efforts are challenged once again by the dedicated Dr. Van Helsing (Peter Cushing), leading to a rather uninvolving climax. Despite the always-welcome presence of Lee and Cushing, this installment plays too flagrantly with the time-honored Hammer Gothic formula, giving Dracula actual dialogue and surrounding the leads with a dull, amateurish supporting cast -- with the possible exception of Joanna Lumley (later of BBC-TV's Absolutely Fabulous). This also marked Lee's final performance as the Count and signaled the beginning of the end for Hammer's horror heyday. Also known as Satanic Rites of Dracula and Dracula is Dead and Well and Living in London. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi

A plucky little girl and her dog join their magical pals to save the world in the computer-animated comedy-adventure for the whole family. The Enchanted Village is a happy place ruled by the good-natured wizard Zebedee where young Florence and her dog, Doogal, come to play with their friends, including opera-singing cow Ermintrude, beatnik rabbit Dylan, and Brian the Snail, a sloppy sort who has a crush on Ermintrude. However, life in the Enchanted Village takes a turn for the worse when Zebedee's evil brother, Zeebad, arrives, freezing the town under a layer of ice and bringing the magic merry-go-round to a halt. Zeebad is searching for three magical jewels that will give him the power to freeze the whole world and rule the Earth, but Zebedee is able to thaw out himself, Florence, and her friends, and they join forces aboard the Magic Train in a bid to stop the villain before it's too late. Doogal is based on The Magic Roundabout, a children's television series from the 1960s in which a handful of wooden stop-motion figures enjoyed whimsical adventures; produced in France, the program enjoyed massive popularity in Great Britain, where actor Eric Thompson provided narration, voiced all the characters, and invented new stories to fit the action. (The film was also called The Magic Roundabout for its U.K. release.) In the film's British release, Kylie Minogue provided the voice of Florence, Ian McKellen voiced Zebedee, Robbie Williams spoke for Doogal, Joanna Lumley read Ermintrude, Bill Nighy voiced Dylan, and Jim Broadbent contributed the voice of Brian. Several characters were given new voices for the film's American release, with Whoopi Goldberg taking over as Ermintrude, William H. Macy as Brian, Jimmy Fallon as Dylan, and Jon Stewart as Zeebad. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Written and directed by Alec Berg, David Mandel, and Jeff Schaffer, Eurotrip is a teen comedy from the Montecito Picture Company (makers of similar movies Old School and Road Trip). Mainstream teenager Scott (Scott Mechlowicz) forms an online friendship with German student Mieke in order to get a passing grade in his high school German class. When he finds out Mieke is a buxom blonde girl (Jessica Böhrs), he travels to meet her with his pals Cooper (Jacob Pitts), Jenny (Michelle Trachtenberg), and Jamie (Travis Wester). The group of randy teens head to Berlin by way of London, Paris, and Amsterdam. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi

While the title suggests that we're in for a bawdy bodice-ripper involving two of more notorious ladies of British fiction, the softcore sex comedy Lady Chatterly vs. Fanny Hill is actually set during the 1920s. Mrs. Hill (Diane Hart) and Lady Evelyn Chatterly (Nan Munro) are two competing brothel madams, who place a wager concerning the "talents" of their girls. Hill's girl Fanny (Joanna Lumley, of Absolutely Fabulous fame) attempts to seduce a portly bishop, while Lady Evelyn's girl Constance (Penny Brahms) goes after a staid wine seller. The latter is played by bespectacled Richard Wattis, who seems to be enjoying his close proximity to so much female flesh. The original release title of Lady Chatterly vs. Fanny Hill was Games That Lovers Play. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A young boy's discovery of a gigantic peach triggers an eventful journey across the sea in this strikingly designed and surprisingly twisted animated adventure. A live-action framing device establishes the dark yet fanciful mood one might expect from an adaptation of a Roald Dahl story, as young British lad James (Paul Terry) is orphaned by the death of his parents and forced to live with two cruel, repulsive aunts (played by noted British character actors Miriam Margolyes and Joanna Lumley of British TV hit Absolutely Fabulous). The visit of a mysterious stranger provides a means of escape, however, through a magic bag of "crocodile tongues" that bring about the appearance of the giant peach. The curious James soon winds up inside the fruit, at which point his body changes, and the film switches to a combination of stop-motion and digital animation. The new James meets up with a group of talking, oversized insects, including a vampish spider (voiced by Susan Sarandon), a sarcastic centipede (voiced by Richard Dreyfuss), and a matronly ladybug (voiced by Jane Leeves). These creatures become his traveling companions when the peach rolls into the Atlantic Ocean, and James and his new friends must brave a variety of dangers to reach the shore. Director Henry Selick provides further proof of the visual skill he demonstrated in The Nightmare Before Christmas, creating a fascinating, often eerie alternate universe, while Randy Newman provides the upbeat musical accompaniment. Young children may be disturbed by the story's creepier overtones, but the mixture of remarkable visuals, oddball characters, and off-kilter fantasy will appeal to all other audiences. ~ Judd Blaise, Rovi